Phoenix to invest Rs 500 crore in new mall at Wakad

The company said on Monday that it has acquired the land parcel at Wakad for Rs 161 crore. In a separate filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, Pune-based Kolte Patil Developers said that it has divested its land holding at Wakad for the same amount.Satyanarayan Iyer | TNN | August 17, 2017, 17:51 IST

PUNE: Phoenix will set up a new mall at Wakad, spread over 1million sq ft, at its newly-acquired land parcel. This will be the Mumbai-based mall operator's second mall in Pune. The company is looking to invest Rs 500 crore (over the land cost) and ready the mall for operations in the next 4-5 years.

The company said on Monday that it has acquired the land parcel at Wakad for Rs 161 crore. In a separate filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange, Pune-based Kolte Patil Developers said that it has divested its land holding at Wakad for the same amount.

“Island Star Mall Developers Pvt. Ltd. (ISMDPL), the strategic investment platform owned by The Phoenix Mills Ltd (PML) and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB), acquired an approximately 13 acres land parcel. This land parcel has a development potential of approximately 1.6 million square feet, of which approximately 1 million square feet is planned as premium retail development,“ the company told TOI in an email reply. Phoenix plans to develop the balance 6 lakh sq ft as a convention centre, hotel and commercial office space.“We are looking to acquire another 2 acres and the total land cost will rise to Rs 225 crore,“ said Atul Ruia, joint managing director, The Phoenix Malls Limited.

The development comes at a time when most malls in the city are struggling with weak footfalls. However, Phoenix Mills and its partner CPPIB reasoned that Pune (like other cities) is underserved in terms of mall capacity measured per person.

“Per capita mall space in Indian metro cities is much lower than some Asian cities. There is no oversupply of grade A malls. On the contrary, there is a dearth of quality retail spaces and large unmet demand which we plan to tap,“ PML said.

Ruia said the existing Phoenix mall at Vimannagar had a leased occupancy of 96% as of June 30 this year. “The consumption at Pune mall reported 24% growth and rental income grew by 28% in the quarter ended June 2017 (y-o-y),“ he added.

Phoenix's neighbouring mall inOrbit had to shut operations and is now being converted into commercial office space.